Dealing with controversial issues is one of the most important tasks teachers perform. In this article, the author presents a few core concepts and research findings that are essential for understanding what teaching controversial issues is all about and why it is so important to develop capability in this methodology.

The literature on teaching controversial issues offers a framework to help teachers make appropriate judgments about which topics are worthy of deliberation and what information is reasonable to consider in a classroom. Wayne Journell describes four criteria for evaluating the openness of issues, explains why the behavioral criterion is neither…

Recent discussions about critical race theory (CRT) have exposed, once again, the heated disagreements that prevail in the United States regarding the nature of its racial past and present. This debate is highly significant in itself, but the dispute is also noteworthy for revealing how quickly a contentious issue can become a lightning rod for…

Society lives in perilous times for educational equity. The progress made in desegregation, culturally responsive pedagogy, and social justice is threatened by backlash legislation and protests in defense of the status quo. The pushback is happening at structural levels and very personal levels. There is an urgent need for professional learning…

The authors, both university faculty in construction management programs, desired to use available resources to develop new material for students. The authors' goal was simply to create a substitute for a traditional textbook with digital content that offers a unique way for students to visualize and learn new concepts. While student engagement is…

Constructive alignment is a learning design approach that emphasizes the direct alignment of the intended learning outcomes, instructional strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods to ensure students are engaged in a meaningful learning experience. This pedagogical approach provides clarity and coherence, aiding students in…

The dramatic increase in hate-related bullying and culturally and/or racially offensive comments or symbols in the wake of the 2016 election came as a surprise for many educators across the United States. Research points to both an increase in frequency of hate related speech and controversy in schools, and teachers reporting a lack of training,…

In the first national teacher training school in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), founded by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, pedagogy was a compulsory teaching subject. The official school report from 1888 stated that there were three books in use for teaching and learning pedagogical subjects, all by the same author from Croatia. Pedagogy was being…

The purpose of this position paper is to emphasize the importance that although teachers may not be able to change the what in terms of curriculum, they can change the how in terms of teaching it. This emphasis is based on data that supports how the choices that each educator makes in response to teaching curriculum can have a profound impact not…

The question of content -- that is, knowledge in the curriculum -- has all but disappeared from global policy and academic discourses concerning teaching and teachers. Invoking the work of Michael Young and his colleagues concerning 'bringing knowledge back in', Bildung-centred Didaktik, and Joseph J. Schwab's curriculum thinking, this article…

Curricula reform that sets students' future success, as the main objective requires insights into the demands of our society. These demands include economic and social needs. The fast-paced changing nature of our society makes it difficult to clearly define content necessary for students' post-graduate success, so curricula reform should focus on…

Forty-two percent of LGBT youth say the community in which they live is not accepting of LGBT people (Human Rights Campaign). That's 4 out of 10. And lesbian, gay, and bisexual young people are almost five times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to have attempted suicide. It is very, very hard for an LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,…

The United States has made many advances in establishing a culture of acceptance and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities. Through best practices in K-12 education, students with disabilities are becoming more independent and empowered, however, there are many potential risks students with disabilities face, especially in the area of…

Teachers at a, mostly white, independent school met monthly for a year, discussing how to talk with children from pre-K through eighth grade about race. They looked at interactions that arose spontaneously in the classroom, from younger children's comments about skin color to racially tinged remarks in the older classes. Faculty members, who all…

This essay explores the institutionalized master narrative of public institutions and how the mandated policies enacted by public institutions impact social studies teachers when they are delivering instruction to their students. A socio-transformative constructivist framework guides the essay in order to affirm that knowledge is socially…